Bankers’ shop Barrenjoey a little top heavy

The mini-Macquarie, which is also the baby of Magellan Financial Group chief executive Brett Cairns and his chairman Hamish Douglass, as well as blue-blood British bank Barclays, took its first public steps on Monday. Picture: SUPPLIED

Investment bankers could sometimes be accused of lacking in the humour department, but no danger of that at former UBS banker Guy Fowler’s new shop Barrenjoey Capital Partners.

The mini-Macquarie, which is also the baby of Magellan Financial Group chief executive Brett Cairns and his chairman Hamish Douglass, as well as blue-blood British bank Barclays, took its first public steps on Monday.

If only a small portion of the rumours about its senior level client-facing line-up eventuate it will qualify as the most top-heavy institution in the southern hemisphere.

But we are taking some comfort from the bevy of high-profile players actually linked to the new shop who know their way around Sydney’s corporate jungle.

Big names signed up include ex-Deutsche Bank chief financial officer John Cincotta, former UBS investment banker Matt Hanning and the Swiss giant’s previous head of equities Chris Williams.

One-time Westfield strategy guru for Scentre and ex-Barclays country head Cynthia Whelan will make an appearance, as will BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie.

Former Challenger Financial Group chief executive Brian Benari has quite a balancing act just running the existing roster. And there is still little sign of rock star investment banker Matthew Grounds who is sitting out for now as a strict non-compete with UBS is in place.

A string of other big names including UBS head of Australian distribution George Kanaan and former local Deutsche Bank boss Michael Ormaechea have also been linked to the group.

But Fowler has given some hope to those bankers not on “the list” by making a few trips to the ASIC registry to set up new companies. Perhaps he was hoping to keep a low profile with the registration of companies numbered from 643 964 194 up to 643 964 194 265.

We can only surmise the private companies refer to the telephone number-sized bonuses on offer at the new shop.

Platinum payouts

Bonuses are hard to come by at Platinum Asset Management.

Co-founder and chief executive Andrew Clifford has taken home a cash bonus just once in the past five years, as heavy outflows keep performance hurdles out of reach.

In its most recent accounts, Clifford took home just his base salary of $450,000 — the same as last year, and he was not the only one.

Andrew Clifford. Picture: David Swift.

Fellow co-founder Kerr Neilson also elected to waive any bonus in light of underperformance against the benchmark, taking home an identical salary.

Alas at Platinum it seems it is more lucrative to hold roles at arm’s-length from the C-suite.

Investor services and communications director Elizabeth Norman was the best paid in the past year, taking home almost three times as much cash as the company’s boss.

She was handed a cash bonus of $725,000 — on top of her $425,000 annual salary — as well as deferred remuneration of $450,000, all for her role in marketing new offshore funds in the US and ongoing work with the European business.

Meanwhile, finance director Andrew Stannard was handed a $400,000 cash bonus in light of his cost-saving and business development initiatives.

Remuneration committee chair Stephen Menzies noted the knock to director shareholdings from the coronavirus rout, but said the bonuses were key for the fund to incentivise “future innovation and business growth”.

Secret talents

Federal Labor MP Kristy McBain won the Eden-Monaro by-election in July on her pledges for regional development and support of small business … but perhaps she should add small-cap stock picking to her list of achievements.

McBain’s register of interests shows a varied share portfolio, but in particular a little slice of home with listed cheese maker Bega — based out of her home electorate and within the council she represented as mayor for four years before the departure of Labor’s Mike Kelly triggered the by-election.

In her former capacity, McBain backed Bega’s push to “bring Vegemite to the Valley”, including dealings with chairman Barry Irvin, that ultimately saw the yeasty spread back in local hands in 2017 after 90 years of American ownership.

Bega friend and corporate Adviser David Williams also turns up at another of McBain’s portfolio, as chair of the burns treatment maker PolyNovo.

Links to the rest of the mixed bag of her interests are harder to find, with everything from the market’s largest LIC, the John Paterson-chaired Australian Foundation Investment Company to $232m logistics play Yojee making a feature.

Whatever her rationale, it has been a good year for McBain, with six of her eight portfolio companies clocking gains year to date — better than even some seasoned stock pickers.

Meeting of minds

Co-ordinating government and business was never going to be easy, but documents from inside Nev Power’s National COVID-19 Coordination Commission shows the tricky business of ... well, co-ordinating.

A flurry of email chains released under Freedom of Information detail the back and forth between key gas players such as Santos and Origin and commission head Nev Power and special adviser Andrew Liveris.

Dating back to mid-April, the emails document requests for meetings, scheduling, rescheduling and tech hiccups, as well as a request from Liveris to have Boston Consulting Group sit in on his meeting with Origin.

Catherine Tanna. Picture: AAP

EnergyAustralia head Catherine Tanna makes an appearance in one email chain to help switch Liveris from his Utilities task force to the Manufacturing task force.

Then over two days from May 13 no fewer than 21 emails went back and forward between Origin and the COVID-19 Coordination Commission and its various members, settling on a time and method of meeting.

A request from Origin asked for a separate meeting with Power and Liveris (so as the discussion could “focus more specifically on the manufacturing needs”).

Then the meeting request when astray with “no dial in details in the meetings invite”.

Finally a date was settled. May 19. On with the business of co-ordination.